Was just told to remove "places of worship"

[WestMichiganCG]

Who were the clients for these reports?

The church appraisals I have done are typically requested by the commercial lending department at a bank and are often done for renovations or expansions. I think many banks hold the notes. I've done them specifically for churches, so they know the value of the assets. I did one that had gone out of business and was transferring the former loan to the new church. They needed to know the difference between the remaining balance and the present worth of the building.

 

[Andy Taylor]

So in todays Catch-22 world the appraiser instead of using "house of worship" uses "non-residential use" or "special use facility" or some other general descriptive, as some posters have suggested, then the lender comes back and asks, "What is the non-residential use or special use of the property?".

 

[George Hatch]

Send them a pic. No semantics (that they could get sued over) necessary.

Now in my own work (other than 1-4s) my clients and users aren't going into that rabbit hole. So I will use the term "walking distance" or "religious use" if/when I think there is a reason to do so. If they had an objection then I would adapt to that with a less descriptive generic and leave the outcome for that to them. They asked, I answered.

But regardless of their more relaxed approach toward PC-speak I still refrain from using other terms which would be more widely interpreted to be about the people and not the properties.

"Maintenance" is an act people perform, whereas "observed conditions" is a property attribute.

 

[J Grant]

The church appraisals I have done are typically requested by the commercial lending department at a bank and are often done for renovations or expansions. I think many banks hold the notes. I've done them specifically for churches, so they know the value of the assets. I did one that had gone out of business and was transferring the former loan to the new church. They needed to know the difference between the remaining balance and the present worth of the building.

That is appropriate for your clients then.
The bulk of real estate work is for lender clients who ask that references to specific religious buildings not be used. (in most cases )

 

[alebrewer]

If mentioning a church is relevant to the analysis, I call it a non-commercial place of gathering for like minded individuals.

 

[ajrealty]

I think that's PC gone excessive; trying to deprive the litigation lotto players the opportunity to scam them for a free loan. But OTOH why would you even need to mention such a property in an SFR appraisal, unless to note a "proximate non-residential use"?

I put this in all my appraisals. In order for a property to be in a marketable location it should have good access to retail shopping, places of employment, recreation, and places of worship. It's appraisal 101. We were taught this in numerous appraisal text books.

 

[George Hatch]

If a house backs to a 24hr fast food unit or a gas station or a bar or an auto body/paint or a kennel that could leave a mark on the value. Same with an occupancy that generated a lot of traffic or featured live music.

Those same uses wouldn't be of effect on many other property types.

 

[J Grant]

I only mention it if relevant to the specific subject - if a church is adjacent for example, I call it a religious facility and state why it is or is not adverse to marketability ( usually, it has no impact on marketability )
I was trained by two SRAs and they never instructed us to include houses of worship in area land use or neighborhood description. It is an assumption that they are present in most areas. A buyer can research on their own how far they are or if they are of the type of facility they want to live near.

 

[Zoe]

I only mention it if relevant to the specific subject - if a church is adjacent for example, I call it a religious facility and state why it is or is not adverse to marketability ( usually, it has no impact on marketability )
I was trained by two SRAs and they never instructed us to include houses of worship in area land use or neighborhood description. It is an assumption that they are present in most areas. A buyer can research on their own how far they are or if they are of the type of facility they want to live near.

Don't miss current use of subject property. How many MV appraisals have you done on a place of worship?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

And I'll stop using words and phases that FNMA/lenders/clients have asked me to stop using for decades....

Early adopter? We didn't hear that until 15 years ago and as far as non-conforming loans (i.e.- real bank lending) I call it a church and never hear a peep.